If dogs run free, then why not we
Across the swooping plain?
My ears hear a symphony
Of two mules, trains and rain
The best is always yet to come
That's what they explain to me
Just do your thing, you'll be king
If dogs run free

If dogs run free, why not me
Across the swamp of time?
My mind weaves a symphony
And tapestry of rhyme
Oh, winds which rush my tale to thee
So it may flow and be
To each his own, it's all unknown
If dogs run free

If dogs run free, then what must be
Must be, and that is all
True love can make a blade of grass
Stand up straight and tall
In harmony with the cosmic sea
True love needs no company
It can cure the soul, it can make it whole
If dogs run free

4 Comments

General CommentThis song fully captures the metaphoric and literal dog to which Dylan is referring. The music bubbly, the vocals stream of mind. He's asking why can't we be free like dogs that run, or nature in general? Nature does not rush or worry, it simply is. Time is as finite for a dog, as it is for man. So run free.

General CommentGreat song. Very jazzy; makes me think of the Beat Generation. In a movie about Jack Kerouac or a film adaptation of On The Road or The Dharma Bums, this would be a good song to run during the opening credits. Love the woman in the background.

He's not just talking about physical freedom, but about a certain mental state which dogs display and humans do not. Running free not only over terrain, but across the swamp of time, the cycle of life, existence, making peace with the finite.

It's not about sex, per se. It's about freedom in general. If dogs run free, why not me? This song questions the societal walls between man and liberty, happiness, satisfication with living, being carefree.